Merry Christmas
Cracun Fericite
Nollaig Chridheil Dhuibh Uile
The tradition in this Romanian Parish is to use boiled wheat but in some places the tradition is to use bread. It all depends on from where in Romanian your family comes from. As mentioned before the wheat symbolizes the resurrection. In the center of the wheat we place a candle to represent the light of Christ’s teaching. At the end of the service a little red wine is poured over the wheat to remind us the we are purified, cleansed, and made holy by the blood of Christ. In the name of the person who has fallen asleep we pray on their behalf for forgiveness and mercy.
This service is not just an event where we shed tears for the dead, but an active participation in making Christ present in this world and the next.
O Most merciful master, Lord Jesus Christ our God, you gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven to your holy disciples and apostles. Then after your third-day resurrection, by your grace, you gave them the power to retain and forgive sins of men, that they be retained in heaven just as they were retained on earth and likewise that they be forgiven in heaven as they were forgiven on earth.
Through your unspeakable love for mankind, you made us worthy, though we are your humble and unworthy servants, to be inheritors of this same your most holy gift and grace. You yourself, most good king, through me your humble and unworthy servant, forgive your servant (N) whatever he has transgressed in this earthly life. Forgive him all which he has done in word deed or thought, releasing him from every form of ban placed on him through his actions of anger or through some other motives or if he is under the ban of a hierarch or some other, due to the envy and though the work of the Devil.
Graciously grant, most good and merciful one, that his soul be established with the saints who from the ages have been pleasing to you and that his body be returned to the elements from which you made it. For you are blessed and glorified to all ages. Amen.
After this prayer, the priest invites the people to come up and say their last goodbye and then the final prayer is said.
The priest holds his hand over the departed and says the following prayer:
May the Lord, Jesus Christ our God, who gave to his holy disciples and apostles the divine command to retain and forgive the sins of those fallen and to us who have received the power to do likewise from them, forgive you all which you have transgressed in this earthly life, voluntarily and involuntarily committed, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
For you are the resurrection, the life and the repose of your servant (N) who has fallen asleep, O Christ God, and we offer glory to you, together with your Father who is without beginning and your all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Then the priest pours olive oil and wine, in the sign of the cross, over the body saying:
Purify me with hyssop until I am clean; wash me until I am whiter than snow.
The wine symbolizes the blood which circulates in our veins and the oil, the announcement of the resurrection.
Thanks to Missionary Floyd Frantz for this information.
Often times, we all get pretty bleak about the situation here in Romania. Well, I guess that it is normal, given that we focus so much on the negative side of life, the “hard side” so to speak.
Well, today I got in a little early, and our President, Mr. Traian Basescu was making a speech on national television, and on all the Romanian stations. I could sense that it was something special. It was. He was blowing the whistle on the old hard line Communist’s who are still in the government. Everyone knows about them, its just that they are never confronted in public, by one of their peers.
Now, before you read the article, consider that many people consider the Romanian “revolution” in 1989 to be not much more than the manipulation of the people by the Communists (mostly by the secret service) to stay in power. Knowing that Communism and the Soviet Union was rapidly falling the revolution was probably a manipulation of the secret police to control the change of power in the government. There has been quite a lot written about it. Then, when the Romanian army, (not the people, as many believe) shot Ceausescu and his wife at a firing squad affair, the “Communist Party” disbanded. Well, not really. They simply put on different hats and formed the political parties that are now in Romania. About 1 billion usd in gold bullion that came up missing during that time has also never been accounted for.
In reading the article, you will notice that both the far right, (ultra-nationalists) and the left (Social Democratic Party) are represented by former Communists. That is how they have kept control of the government, money, and generally, the people here in Romania since 1989, after the Revolution. And these guys are still in power, one of them has been president twice since 1989 and is now a senator.
I don’t usually write about all the political scandals over here, there are too many to note. But this one is worth mentioning because this fellow, Traian Basescu, is really trying to do something to help his country. And, in the last few years things have gotten better. It’s a “progress rather than perfection” type of thing, but Romania is improving.
Anyway, the link to read the BBC article is: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6190931.stm you might need to copy and paste it into your browser.
I am doing a “copy and paste” of a second, related article, in case the link does not work in your program. I hope you enjoy reading the article.
Have a good one,
In His Love,
One day at a time,
Floyd
By DPADec 18, 2006, 17:32 GMTBucharest – A Romanian parliamentary session aimed at making the first official condemnation of the communist era was disrupted Monday by an ultra-nationalist writer and lawmaker who lambasted President Traian Basescu as well as guest Michael I, the country’s former king. Senator Corneliu Vadim Tudor and colleagues from the Romania Mare (Greater Romania) party heckled, whistled and booed Basescu during his early afternoon speech.The parliamentary session was held to discuss a report commissioned by the president which condemns the 1945-1989 communist era as ‘criminal and illegitimate.’
Tudor, the one-time writer-in-residence of former dictator Nicolai Ceausescu, is angered at his portrayal in the report, in which he is charged with helping the communist regime.
The report and the official condemnation has also provoked the ire of the opposition Socialist (PSD) party, whose honorary chairman Ion Iliescu is also named as having aided communism. Iliescu, Romanian president from 1990 to 1996, and again from 2000 to 2004, gained power following the ouster of Ceausescu.
Tudor on Monday described the report as ‘anti-Romanian and criminal,’ saying Basescu was a ‘worm’ in comparison to Ceausescu. He accused Michael I meanwhile of having ‘brought the Russians into the country’ via his 1944 break with Nazi Germany.
Tudor’s Romania Mare party is seen by many in the country as being largely made up of officers from the former communist-era security police.
Among the righteous spirits departed this life, O Savior, rest the soul of your servant, bringing it to that blessed life with you, O lover of mankind.
Followed by the Litany of the dead and the prayer of the priest:
O God of spirits and of all bodies, who trampled down death and overcame the devil and bestowed life on your world, yourself O Lord rest the soul of your servant (N) who has fallen asleep, in a place of light, in a place of green pastures, in a place of rest from where pain, sorrow and sighing have been driven away. Forgive him every transgression committed in word, in deed, or in thought, for you are good O God and the lover of mankind. For there is no man born who does not transgress and you alone are without sin, your righteousness is everlasting and your word is true.
For you are the resurrection, the life and the repose of your servant (N) who has fallen asleep, O Christ God, and we offer glory to you, together with your Father who is without beginning and your all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
